You can remove a connection in three steps from your profile or theirs
To remove a connection on LinkedIn, go to your profile, find the person's name in your connections list, click the three dots next to their name, and select "Remove connection." You can also visit their profile directly and use the same menu. The person will not receive a notification that you removed them, but they will no longer see you in their network, and you will no longer see them in yours.
LinkedIn does not send a removal notice because the platform treats this as a private action. However, if the person searches for you or visits your profile later, they may notice you are no longer connected. The removal is when ready — there is no waiting period or way to undo it from LinkedIn's side, though you can always send a new connection request afterward.
Key Takeaways
- Removing a connection takes less than a minute and happens from either your connections list or the person's profile page.
- The person you remove will not get a notification, but they can see you are no longer connected if they check their network.
- Removing a connection does not delete your past messages or shared activity — those remain in your message history.
- You can remove a connection at any time, and the person can send you a new request whenever they want.
How to remove someone from your connections list
Open LinkedIn and go to your profile by clicking your photo in the top right corner. Select "Connections" from the menu. Scroll through your list or use the search box at the top to find the person you want to remove. When you find them, hover over their name and click the three dots (the "more" menu) that appear on the right side of their entry.
A small menu will pop up with several options. Click "Remove connection." LinkedIn will ask you to confirm — click "Remove" again. The person is now removed from your network. This entire process takes about 30 seconds.
How to remove someone from their profile page
If you are already looking at someone's profile, you do not need to go back to your connections list. At the top of their profile, you will see a button that says "Connected" (usually in blue). Click that button, and a dropdown menu appears. Select "Remove connection" from the options.
This method is faster if you are already viewing their profile. The confirmation step is the same — LinkedIn will ask you to confirm before the removal is final.
What happens to your messages and activity after removal
Removing a connection does not erase your message history. Any direct messages you sent to that person will still be in your LinkedIn inbox, and they will still be in theirs. You can read old conversations whenever you want. The person can also still see your past messages unless they delete them on their end.
Posts you liked or commented on together will remain visible on the platform. If you commented on their post before removing them, your comment stays there. Removing the connection straightforward ends the relationship in LinkedIn's network — it does not scrub your interaction history.
When you might want to remove a connection
People remove connections for different reasons. You might remove someone because you no longer work together and want to keep your network focused on current contacts. You might remove someone whose posts you find unhelpful or whose activity clutters your feed. You might remove a connection if the relationship ended on bad terms, or if you connected by mistake and want to clean up your list.
LinkedIn does not judge these decisions. The platform treats removal as a normal part of managing your professional network. There is no penalty for removing people, and no one at LinkedIn will see a record of who you removed.
What the other person sees and does not see
After you remove someone, they will no longer appear in your connections count. If they visit your profile, they will see a "Connect" button instead of "Connected," which tells them you are no longer in each other's networks. They will not see a notification saying you removed them — LinkedIn does not send those alerts.
However, if they check their own connections list and search for your name, they may notice you are gone. They can also see that you are no longer connected if they try to view your full profile and hit a visibility restriction. The removal is not secret, but it is not announced either.
How to prevent someone from seeing your profile after removal
Removing a connection does not automatically hide your profile from that person. By default, LinkedIn allows non-connections to view your profile (unless you have changed your privacy settings). If you want to prevent someone from seeing your profile after removing them, you need to adjust your privacy settings separately.
Go to Settings and Privacy, then select "Visibility." Under "Who can see your profile," you can choose to limit visibility to connections only. This setting applies to everyone who is not connected to you, so it will affect all non-connections, not just the person you removed. If you want to block a specific person from seeing your profile, you will need to use LinkedIn's block feature instead of just removing them.
The difference between removing, blocking, and archiving
LinkedIn offers three different ways to manage your network: remove, block, and archive. Removing a connection ends the relationship but allows the person to see your profile and send you a new request. Blocking a person prevents them from seeing your profile, sending you messages, or finding you in search results — it is a stronger action. Archiving a conversation hides it from your inbox without removing the connection itself.
Use removal when you straightforward want to clean up your network. Use blocking when someone is harassing you or you want to prevent them from contacting you. Use archiving when you want to declutter your inbox but keep the professional relationship. Each tool serves a different purpose, and you can switch between them if your needs change.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will the person know I removed them?
LinkedIn does not send a notification when you remove someone. However, they may notice if they check their connections list or visit your profile and see a "Connect" button instead of "Connected." The removal itself is not announced, but it is not hidden either.
Can I undo a removal?
You cannot undo a removal directly through LinkedIn. However, you can send the person a new connection request at any time, and if they accept, you will be connected again. Your old messages will still be in your inbox.
What if I remove someone by accident?
If you removed someone by mistake, send them a new connection request. Explain briefly if you want to, or straightforward let the request speak for itself. Most people accept reconnection requests without issue.
Does removing a connection affect my recommendations or endorsements?
Removing a connection does not delete recommendations or endorsements they gave you in the past. Those remain on your profile. However, they can no longer endorse your skills or write new recommendations once you are disconnected.
Can I remove multiple people at once?
LinkedIn does not have a bulk removal feature. You must remove people one at a time. If you have a large network you want to clean up, this takes time, but there is no faster way through the platform itself.